Warfare & Tactics

How long does it normally take to scan down ships on average.

I find it takes a while but want to get some general tips and pointers on how to do it better as well.

Thanks!

What the guy above said, although it depends a lot on the ship you are trying to scan down. Anything battlecruiser or bigger, I can usually scan down in a single scan cycle, but when it gets smaller than that, I will probably need more than one scan. For ships that were previously unprobeable, I'd need more than 3 usually, if I can get a 100% result at all

I use 7 probes. 5 in an flower at 4 AU 1 in the center at 1 AU and 1 in the center of that one at 0.5 AU.

If you have an idear about which planet the ship are close to, most ships BC and abov will be found in first attemt Cruisers and below 2-3 attemps.

But you serious need to know how to use your D-Scan, and have an good idear where about the ship are.And ofcause launch you probes out of D-Scan range.

living in wormhole space means if you are covert, they wont know you are there until your combat probes are on dscan (or until you warp in if theyre not paying attention). the most important thing is to know where they are as accurately as you can before using those probes in their dscan range.

1. find a planet where you can launch probes that is outside his dscan range. check your own dscan to find this. if you cant see him, he cant see you or the probes.
2. shoot the probes 30 au up and hit scan. this way he can warp around all he wants but the probes are always way out of dscan range.
3. find the planet he is closest too. easiest way is usually to start from the sun and then look around in what direction he is.
4. you want to get him on dscan range in a radius that is as small as you can get it. this makes positioning the probes easier later on
5. find the range he is at from where you are. reduce the dscan range until you know how far he is from you. if he is like 8AU or more, find a planet that hes closer too. If you dont you run a fair chance that your 5 degree angle isnt precise enough since it will cover a way bigger amount of space at that range. ideally, try to get him at 4AU or less. this isnt always possible though
6. Once you know in what direction he is and at what range, hit F11. this will show the system you are in and in what direction you are looking.
7. Hit F10 and use the smaller map to position your probes accordingly. if you have like 7 probes out, remember you can use a probe to make measure. for instance, if hes at 4 au distance, just set 1 probe to 4 au and put the edge to where you are on the solar system map. he should be at the other edge
8. make the probes as small as you dare. if you have someone at a 5 degree angle at 2au, dont hesitate to use just 1 au scan range. if you cant get lower the 8au in a 5 degree angle, use a higher scan range.
9. wonder about your position. and your fleet. usually when i do this there is a fleet waiting for my warp-in on top of him. if you have to do this, make sure you can warp the fleet, and are at a place where you can warp the fleet (on-grid of the fleet, or the wh/gate where they are waiting on the other site).
10. hit scan, start praying. if you did everything right you should get him in a single cycle, assuming its cruiser hull or bigger. this gives your target about 4 seconds to see your probes.
11. as soon as you have a hit, recall probes, shoot them 30AU up again, do whatever, just get them of his dscan. nothing is as frustrating as getting a perfect lock, and then during warp in him spotting the probes and running like hell.

this takes a lot of practice by the way. its more then likely that the first few times you will miss him, simply because you dont get the signal at 100% the first time, have to readjust, scan again, and by that time someone will notice the combat probes

remember i fly in wh space. if someone sees combat probes, you gtfo unless you know more then they do. in lowsec my experience is that you have a little bit more time. might just have been luck though

People always say oh it only takes me 10s...in all my time playing Eve I've come across maybe 10 people who actually know how to probe (good enough that they will catch more than just ******** & noobs). Usual method is warp around planets. Say he is at planet V when he is actually on the other side of the solar system at planet III. Dump probes within 4 au of the target. Sit there uncloaked beside your probes for a minute or so while you position them in a cube. Start scanning with probes 64-32au radius. Probe out a couple haulers and shuttles at some pos. Finally get a hit on the mission runner. warp to him and it is in the middle of space, durrr you took so long you caught him mid warp to the station to hand in his mission! Complain oh if only I had used sister's launcher or sister's probes.!!! lolol gtfo

Best way to learn to probe is by living in a WH for a few months.
i may be generalizing a bit here but anyone who doesnt and has never lived long term in a WH is probably terrible at any sort of probing, combat probing especially.
(obviously there are going to be a few exceptions, but good kspace probers are few and far apart.)

bottom line is this.
if you can't probe out a ship in MAX 2 scans, you may as well not bother dropping probes in the first place.
in WHs, that number goes down to 1 scan.